Whether you're underweight or overweight, your goal should be to find your healthy body weight and adjust your current weight accordingly. Being obese or overweight has serious health consequences, including increased risk of heart disease and heart attack, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and stroke, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Being underweight also poses health risks of its own---it can increase the risk of osteoporosis, infertility and leave you more vulnerable to infection and illness. A healthy body weight is ideal for better health and to reduce the risk of health complications and problems. It's important to find out if you are obese, overweight, normal weight or underweight. Find out what's considered a healthy body weight for your height, and see how close you are to that range---then, you can make some lifestyle changes to get you to your goal weight.
Step 1
Understand what a healthy body weight means. You can't determine if you're at a healthy body weight because of the size you wear or how you think that you look. You can actually calculate the healthiest range for your body weight based on your height. These days, how close you are to a healthy body weight is generally defined by body mass index (BMI). BMI is a calculation of your height compared to your weight, and it's divided into categories of underweight, healthy weight, overweight, obese and morbidly obese, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). Healthy body weight is the ideal goal for your body, and will help ward off disease and health problems.
Step 2
Calculate your body mass index. It's pretty simple to figure out your BMI---you don't need to have it measured in a doctor's office or use any special test. It's just a simple calculation you can do at home by yourself. First, you'll need to know how much you weigh (in pounds). Multiply that number by 703. Next, divide that resulting number by your height (in inches). Finally, divide that number again by your height in inches. The resulting number is your BMI.
Step 3
Use an online BMI calculator. If you don't want to calculate the number by yourself or if you just want to be sure you're getting the right number, you can always plug your personal data into a number of online BMI calculators (See Resources).
Step 4
Interpret your BMI results. Your BMI will likely be somewhere between 18 and 40. A BMI of less than 18.5 is considered underweight, while 18.5 to 24.9 is a healthy body weight, says the NLM. A score of 25 to 29.9 is overweight, while 30 to 39.9 is obese. A BMI of over 40 is dangerous, and considered morbidly obese.
Step 5
Figure out what you should weigh. There isn't one magic number that means you're a healthy weight, rather it's a range that shows you how healthy your weight is. If your BMI result shows that you're a little overweight or obese, you can always play with the calculator a bit more to figure out what body weight (or range of weight) will get you in that healthy category of 18.5 to 24.9. If your BMI shows that you're dangerously underweight, find out how many pounds you need to gain to get yourself to a healthier body weight. Plug in different weights to see what gets you to the healthy body weight range.
Step 6
Understand who BMI isn't appropriate for. While a useful tool, BMI doesn't always provide the most accurate result for everyone. For instance, you should never calculate a child's BMI, says the NLM. Instead, talk to your child's pediatrician about a healthy body weight for the child's age. Seniors may benefit from a slightly higher BMI, so this calculator may not always be appropriate for them. And body builders with a high muscle mass may have a misleading BMI, notes the NLM. If you're pregnant, BMI won't be accurate for you either. It's important to gain a healthy amount of weight during pregnancy, but you should talk to your obstetrician about how much weight is healthy for you to gain during your pregnancy.
Step 7
Talk to your doctor. If you're concerned about your weight and risk of health problems, your doctor can help confirm a healthy body weight for you, talk about your health risks and help you figure out a plan to slim down or add pounds to get to a healthy body weight for you.
Tips and Warnings
- Convert your weight to pounds and your height to inches if you use different measurements; otherwise, the BMI calculation will not work. Or, use a BMI calculator that works with different measurement systems.
- If you have a high BMI, it's important to take action to lose weight with a healthy diet and regular exercise to reduce your risk of health problems.
Things You'll Need
- Tape measure
- Scale
- Calculator
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